Germany Lifts Yemen Passenger Flight Ban

November 15, 2010

Germany has lifted a suspension of passenger flights from Yemen but left in place a ban on air cargo imposed after bombs were found in packages sent from there two weeks ago, the transport ministry said.

The discovery of suspected al Qaeda parcel bombs at the end of last month prompted governments, airlines and aviation authorities around the world to review their security. Several western states have implemented flight suspensions.

Packages intercepted in Britain and Dubai contained bombs sent from Yemen and addressed to synagogues in Chicago. One, found on a UPS cargo plane at East Midlands Airport in Britain, had been trans-shipped at Cologne Bonn airport in Germany.

A transport ministry spokeswoman said passenger planes had been given permission to fly from Yemen to Germany as of 1300 GMT/UTC on Friday. Cargo flights and the transport of cargo on passenger flights are still banned.

The decision to lift the ban on passenger flights followed a new security report from Germany's interior ministry, which sent German police to Yemen to investigate security at airports, the website "Spiegel Online" reported.